Comeback Club unites those with traumatic brain injuries

For individuals with traumatic brain injuries, finding a supportive community with others who have the same disability can be daunting.

The Comeback Club, hosted by the Puyallup Parks and Recreation Department, has met weekly since 1986 and provides a community for those from all walks of life suffering from a traumatic brain injury. The group has 18 to 20 members, drawing from Puyallup, Tacoma, Orting, University Place and Graham. The Comeback Club gets together to play games, be social and provide a supportive community.

The club has benefited from a strong leadership and organizational presence; Sue Bender has helped facilitate since 1988 and Susie Sarachman has helped since 1993.

“The group was started in 1986 after the Center for Cognitive Rehabilitation in Puyallup closed down,” Bender said. “It came out of that need. It helps (participants) get reintroduced to life and feel supported.”

Or, as longtime Comeback Club member Erik Simmons says, “It helps them get back into life.”

Melissa Wiggins started attending the Comeback Club following a stroke that led to a traumatic brain injury. She credits her husband as the driving force behind joining the support group and getting out of the house more than six years ago.

“We get together and play games,” she said. “It helps me to get out of the house and meet others with my condition.”

Rosemarie Simmons and Kelly Cochran both have sons with traumatic brain injuries, and use the time to connect with each other and relax from what normally can be a daunting task of caring for their adult sons recovering from major brain traumas.

Rosemarie and her son, Erik, have been coming for more than 20 years.

“Erik was told he would never make it (after getting diagnosed with a TBI),” she said. “He did, and we’ve been coming ever since. Our first meeting was in 1992, and I remember we had to carry him in.”

Now Erik walks in independently to each meeting.

“I like that we play games and I get to socialize,” he said.

“It’s a nice social place,” Rosemarie added. “People understand his condition and accept that here.”

Cochran’s son, Stuart, suffered a major trauma, similar to Simmons.

“They didn’t think he would survive,” Cochran said. “He was in a coma for six weeks.”

Douglas Roush has been a proud member of the Comeback Club for 20 years. After a truck ran him over twice while on duty as a gate guard for the U.S. Army in Germany, he spent 10 and a half months in a coma and two years in the hospital.

“There’s people here who you can relate to and socialize with,” Roush said. “Once you become disabled, people don’t care. The people here do.”

According to Sarachman, there aren’t many specialized groups for TBI patients.

“It’s difficult to lump them in with different disabilities and feel accepted,” she said. “Here, they feel accepted.”

The Comeback Club meets at 6 p.m. every Monday at the Puyallup Activity Center, 210 W Pioneer Ave.

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Comeback Club unites those with traumatic brain injuries."